J arrived at the prairie around 10:30 after packing up camp — thanks so much hon! — and he joined in the photography fun! He took some videos too — can’t wait to watch them!
There were lots more photos to be had, including the endemic Texas Coneflower — love this plant! Texas Confeflower is shorter than Giant Coneflower — but it’s still over my head. I took these shots to try and capture what it was like to be in among them:
Susan spotted some that were an unusual light yellow –so pretty!
Clouds started rolling in and it made for some tricky photograhy — you’d have your camera setup one way and then seconds later it would all change
The clouds were welcome though because it started getting hot. Plus they brought out the colors — like in these passionflowers
Anyone know what this guy is? Gotta try and figure it out. He blended in with the grass leaves perfectly, I almost didn’t see him at first!
Oh and! If you’ve ever eaten passionfruit, this is what it looks like!
We said farewell to Nash and headed over for a quick visit to Mowatny Prairie, just down the road:
Love the texture of the Silveus’ dropseed, don’t you just want to roll around in it and take a nap?
By now it was really getting hot, and we were really getting hungry! So we said farewell to the coast and headed back to Austin. Thanks so much to Susan and Peter for permission to spend time at these super special prairies. And, thanks for waking up early so that we could capture the prairie magic. It was so fun hanging out and talking with everyone, too!
On the way back we stopped and got pizza — yum! — at this cool place that plays 80’s music and has a tasty buffet. And I tromped J at air hockey — again, ha ha!
What a great weekend! Can’t wait to go back in two weeks when we’ll be helping to lead a field trip — come join us if you can!
Wow… just WOW! I just LOVE your shots of the passion flowers! Those should definitely go in your next blog header! :-)
OH my… Those sky shots are just heaven…
And a real passion flower! I have Portmeirion Varions plates/cups/etc. for my ‘pattern’. Long story – my husband gave me a vase when we were dating… and it became our pattern (use it for everyday and everything, not a fancy China girl!)… Anyway, You would love them.. A one of the designs is the Passion Flower… I have never seen one IRL!
Gorgeous gorgeous place and flowers….
Thank you for sahring!
Lovely photos. The passion flower photo definitley needs to be showcased in a frame.
I believe your mystery insect is a Katylid, a type of the grasshopper.
http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Katydid
Awesome photos Lise! I really like the pale yellow Texas Coneflowers. Had lots of fun with you!
I love ALL the photos, Lisa! Beautiful prairie scenery. Good job.
That prairie is gorgeous! Wish I could come and take pictures. I’ve never seen a passion flower before – very cool!
Gorgeous photos, Lisa! Never seen or eaten a passion fruit. Thanks for sharing.
Wow – your photography is incredible Lisa. What a beautiful place. Love all the creature shots especially. Stunning.
Beautiful photos Lisa- looks like you had a great time!
Lisa,
You have a real gift for photography – thank you for sharing!
AMAZING PHOTOS!!!!!!
Love those shots. Wonderful memories – looks like it was a perfect time.
WOW Lisa…the Photos are just Wonderful…thanks so much for sharing some of the Beauty you saw…Loved seeing each and every one!!
The photos are absolutely stunning. I’d love to know the technology that you used to capture your close up images with such clarity – they look like something from a calendar or magazine. Perhaps that could be another tutorial?
Sadly, we moved from Austin in January of this year…thanks for sharing some pictures of “home”. Enjoy your week!
Hi Angela! For the close up shots, I used my Canon Rebel XTi and a 100 mm macro lens — that’s it! No filters, or special Photoshop tricks. Hope that helps!
Wow, Lisa these photos are amazing! I can understand why you love the Prairies. I love the coneflowers and I can’t believe they grow wild like that. Such beauties! Thank you for sharing these gorgeous photos!